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Kathryn Vermeulen
Cory Hall
0
Lake Forest LAKE FOR 25-13-1
6
Winner Grinnell GRINNELL 27-12
Lake Forest LAKE FOR
25-13-1
0
Final
6
Grinnell GRINNELL
27-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Lake Forest LAKE FOR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
Grinnell GRINNELL 0 1 1 4 0 0 X 6 8 1

W: Vermeulen, Kathryn (10-4) L: H. Smith (12-4)

2
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS 24-15-1
11
Winner Grinnell GRINNELL 28-12
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS
24-15-1
2
Final
11
Grinnell GRINNELL
28-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Illinois Col. ILLINOIS 0 0 2 0 0 2 3 4
Grinnell GRINNELL 4 2 0 0 5 11 10 0

W: Hartman, Christin (14-6) L: O. Shimmin (6-7)

Game Recap: Softball | | Ted Schultz

GC softball team inches within 1 victory of first-ever MWC Tourney title with pair of wins Friday

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - In a season of many firsts, Grinnell College's softball team accomplished another Friday at the Midwest Conference Tournament.

For the first time in program history, the Pioneers emerged from the first day of the double-elimination event unbeaten at 2-0. With the 6-0 victory over Lake Forest College and 11-2, five-inning decision over fellow co-MWC regular-season champ Illinois College, Grinnell moved within one win of claiming its first-ever league tourney crown.

Grinnell will play the Illinois College-Lake Forest winner at noon tomorrow. If the Pioneers win, they are the champs. If not, the same noon opponents will play again at 2 p.m. to determine the champ.

Elite 20The day began on a good note when Grinnell's Kambria Anson '24 (inset) was presented the Elite 20 Award, which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest GPA participating in that sport's championship or tournament event.  The award recognizes the commitment of the student-athlete toward the pursuit of excellence in both the athletic and academic realms. A student-athlete may only receive the award one during any given academic year.

Kathryn Vermeulen '24 fired her third shutout of the season in the opener against Lake Forest, striking out four batters and scattering six hits. Emma DiGiacomo-Zahller '24 gave Grinnell the only run it would need in the second inning with an RBI single. The Pioneers put up another run in the third on Samantha Chu's '24 sacrifice fly, and added four runs in the fourth as Alexa Okada '24 belted a two-run single and Amanda Ramirez '23 a two-run double.

That led to a rematch with Illinois College, a team Grinnell split with during the regular season. Grinnell erupted for four runs in the first inning and never looked back in running its school-record victory total to 28 versus just 12 losses. 

DiGiacomo-Zahller had three of the Pioneers' 10 hits. In the first, an error plated one run, DiGiacomo-Zahller had an RBI single and Jasmine Oda '25 blasted a two-run double.

Grinnell made it 6-0 in the second via an error and sacrifice fly by Chu, boosting her total to a school-record five for the season. Illinois College closed the gap to 6-2 in the third, but the Pioneers finished off the mercy-rule victory with five runs in the fifth. Kyra Killion '24 had an RBI single, Ramirez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Okada scored on a wild pitch and Anson hit a two-run triple.

Christin Hartman '24 was the winning pitcher, firing a three-hitter and striking out one.
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